New Seals or Seal Doctor?

[farmerj]

Sorry, fork re-building "newbie" here (45mm Zokes.) After a hard desert ride, with lots of whoops, both fork seals started leaking.

Q1 - How do I know if I need to replace the seals or just use a "seal doctor" and clean them?

If I'm going to the work to take the forks apart and change oil I'm wondering if I should just replace the seals while I"m at it.

Q2 - I rode the thing a bit without much oil in the forks. Can that damage the internals or cause wear on the sliders?

Thanks,

Jeff
'05 DE 300

[desertgasser300]

If you crack them open its easy enough to replace seals and wipers all at once. Nothing like the peace of mind knowing you have fresh oil and seals.

[motopsycho87]

The way I've found it in the past is that if they leak once, they will leak again. There will be contaminants in the oil, a seal doctor will only serve to push what's got stucm in the seal, back into the oil.

[firffighter]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TsBEUKUwXXo

Very interesting watch! I trust Jeff Ballard for sure.

I bought one. We bought a used KX80 big wheel this year with both seals leaking. Used the seal doctor and no more leaks!


Just a thought.

[farmerj]

Thanks for the replies! I have a Seal Doctor that I will try and some new seals on order as well.

[bkwdc]

Originally Posted by desertgasser300

If you crack them open its easy enough to replace seals and wipers all at once. Nothing like the peace of mind knowing you have fresh oil and seals.

Agreed. What he said.

[bkwdc]

Originally Posted by motopsycho87

The way I've found it in the past is that if they leak once, they will leak again. There will be contaminants in the oil, a seal doctor will only serve to push what's got stucm in the seal, back into the oil.

Agreed. What he said 2.

[Zman]

I have found the seal cleaning to be a temporary fix. It may work for a while, be prepaired to replace the seals.

[Jakobi]

Personally, I find the oil wears out before the seals.

[desertgasser300]

Originally Posted by Jakobi

Personally, I find the oil wears out before the seals.

True, two oil changes and the same SKF seals.